Foreign Policy gained exclusive access to an Islamic State laptop, retrieved from the field of battle by a “moderate” Syrian rebel group, and after some digital digging, FP discovered deeply disturbing information on the device.

Buried in the “hidden files” section of the computer were 146 gigabytes of material, containing a total of 35,347 files in 2,367 folders.

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The laptop’s contents turn out to be a treasure trove of documents that provide ideological justifications for jihadi organizations — and practical training on how to carry out the Islamic State’s deadly campaigns. They include videos of Osama bin Laden, manuals on how to make bombs, instructions for stealing cars, and lessons on how to use disguises in order to avoid getting arrested while traveling from one jihadi hot spot to another.

But after hours upon hours of scrolling through the documents, it became clear that the ISIS laptop contains more than the typical propaganda and instruction manuals used by jihadists. The documents also suggest that the laptop’s owner was teaching himself about the use of biological weaponry, in preparation for a potential attack that would have shocked the world.

The information on the laptop makes clear that its owner is a Tunisian national named Muhammed S. who joined ISIS in Syria and who studied chemistry and physics at two universities in Tunisia’s northeast. Even more disturbing is how he planned to use that education: The ISIS laptop contains a 19-page document in Arabic on how to develop biological weapons and how to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals.

“The advantage of biological weapons is that they do not cost a lot of money, while the human casualties can be huge,” the document states.

Two Chinese ships arrived at the coast of Vietnam on Monday to begin efforts to collect thousands of Chinese citizens who are fleeing the country after deadly attacks last week.

Chinese authorities said Sunday that more than 3,000 Chinese had already been evacuated from Vietnam after protests over China’s decision to move an oil rig into disputed waters of the South China Sea spiraled into riots last week in which foreign-owned factories were burned and looted.

Our colleges and universities have become infectious breeding grounds of the left, fattening their tills as the students are yoked to untenable loans to pay for often useless educations they provide. The federal government encourages this bubble, undermines free speech and due process on campus by regulation and encourages young people to enslave themselves in this way.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s address to the Israeli Knesset this week was one of the greatest speeches ever delivered by a Canadian leader, ranking (in content if not delivery, though that was quite adequate) with Sir John Macdonald’s defence of his conduct in the Pacific scandal in 1873, Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s parliamentary response to conscription in 1917, and Pierre E. Trudeau’s speech at the end of the Quebec sovereignty referendum campaign in 1980. The content of the Knesset speech was generally accurately reported in Canada, but not widely recognized as a brilliant address, as a great milestone in the rise of Canada as a power in the world, a clarification of the moral basis of this country’s foreign policy, and as an episode that brings distinction on the whole country.

After refusing to honour a male student’s request to be separated from his female classmates for religious reasons, a York University professor has found himself at odds with administrators who assert he broke their “obligation to accommodate.”

When university professors, stewards of knowledge for the next generation of thinkers, propose to fence off all contact, all mental commerce, with others of their kind, they lose the right to be called professors. When they selectively embrace a boycott of a single country’s academics and institutions, they reveal themselves as activists. Not professors but propagandists.

DHAKA, Bangladesh — It was a Pakistani journalist, Anthony Mascarenhas, who gave the world the first detailed account of Bangladesh’s war of independence. In April 1971, soon after the army of Pakistan started suppressing the secessionist movement in what was then still the eastern part of the country, it invited Mr. Mascarenhas to report on the conflict, believing he would buttress the false propaganda of a just war. Mr. Mascarenhas promptly moved his family, and then himself, to Britain knowing that soon he would no longer be able to live in Pakistan.

The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun has reported that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un was “very drunk” when he ordered the execution of his Uncle’s two aides.

Kim’s uncle Jang Song-thaek was head of the ruling Workers’ Party administrative department, a high profile and powerful position within the country. It was even rumoured at one point that Jang may even have been a contender to lead the country after the death of Kim Jong-il.

The official report from North Korea stated that Jang was executed after a special military tribunal found him guilty of treason.

“The accused Jang brought together undesirable forces and formed a faction as the boss of a modern day factional group for a long time and thus committed such hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state,” the North’s official KCNA news agency reported.

It goes without saying; nothing in North Korea happens without the approval of the dear leader Kim Jong-un, even the outcomes of “trials”. The reason for his uncle’s death was far less sinister than a coup attempt, but rather the result of a drunken leader talking to two nervous low level aides.

According to Yomiuri Shimbun, Jang’s two aides questioned an order from Kim to hand over control of a business to the military. Sources told the newspaper Kim was “upset” when they said they needed to check with “Director Jang” first.

Jang’s aides, first deputy director Ri Ryong-ha and another deputy Jang Su-gil, were promptly executed in November following the orders of Kim Jong-un. After the executions it was only a matter of time before Jang too would face the same fate.

Eight people from director Jang’s inner circle were executed in all, which can only be described as a Soviet era type purge to instill fear over the people.

Kim used these executions, and his uncle’s show trial as a threat to anyone in the DPRK that may be thinking of or conspiring a coup.

Although I don’t find any evidence of a serious organized seizure of power from within the country, domestic disturbances in North Korea aren’t completely uncommon.

I’ve compiled a list of fairly recent dissension among the people of North Korea:

In 1981, there were reports of armed clashes between soldiers and workers in Chongjin leaving as many as 500 dead, in 1983 similar clashes occurred in Sinuiju.

In 1985, there were reports of a massacre of hundreds of civilians whom were demanding food.

In 1990, students at the Kim Il-Sung University were arrested and tortured for organizing anti-government protests.

In 1992 there was a failed attempt by officers in the State Security Department’s bodyguard bureau to stage a coup preventing Kim Jong Il from assuming the position as commander of the Korean People’s Army [KPA].

In 1993 thirty military officers tried unsuccessfully to stage a rebellion against their superiors.

In 1996 leaflets were found in front of the Kim Il-Sung mausoleum, criticising the cost of the mausoleum when citizens were starving.

In 1997 a statue of Kim Il-Sung was found vandalized, and anti-government graffiti left behind.

In 1998 there was that famous plot to assassinate Kim Jong Il by one of his body guards; the same scenario played out again in 2002.

Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau has a lot of ground to make up on the Israel file. When the Liberals were in power last, the rule, rather than the exception, was generally to condemn Israel on the world stage.